Improvement in cloth the weft ok which is made of hair, grass



g UNITED STATES PATENT (l)Errori..

JAMES DOWNIE, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN C LOTH THE WEFT 0l` WHICH IS M/ADE OF HAIR, GRASS, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Fatent No. lA 36, dated December12. 1865.

To all whom Ait may concern.-

Be it k'nown that I, J AMES DOWNIE, of Paterson, in the county otPassaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements inHair-Cloth and in Cloth made of Manila Grass and other Coarse VegetableFibers, ot' which the following' is a specification.

In the manufacture ot' hair-cloth, as heretofore practiced, it has beennecessary to make the width ot` the cloth correspond to theleugth of thehair used in its manufacture. had to be drawn into the warp by hand-aslow and tedious` process, and one that greatly augmented the cost ofmanufacture. AThe re- -sult was that the web was very narrow, and tomake it of any available width only'the longest part ot' thehair couldbe used, the greater part being either thrown away or sold for a muchless sum than had been paid for it to those who manufactured curled hairt'or upholstering' purposes. The edges ot' the web were withoutselvages, the ends of the hair projecting on each side ofthe web,necessitat ing the formatiOnot'Iarge, stit, ungainly seams when thecloth was used; and the salue dii culties were also experihnced inmanufacturing grass-cloths.

-My invention has t'or its object the avoidance ot' these dlliculties;and itconsists in so preparing the hair or grass woot that it can beinserted in the warp with a shuttle. the saine as in ordinary weaving,and thus allow the cloth to he made with selvages and of any desiredwidth.

1n the drawings, Figure l is n top view ot' a sample ot my improvedcloth, showing one selvage and the manner in which the woot` is insertedin one variety ot' cloth. Fig. 2 is a sample ot the woot' taken apartatthe center to show the guidingl or central thread (shown in red) and thearran gement ot' the hair, grass, or other fiber, (shown in black,)andthe wrapping or windingthread. (Shown in blue.)

Fig. 3 is a view ota sample of cloth enlarged,

and showing the threads ot' hair or'pgrass woot separated by twothreadsot` ordinary woot.

The woot' A is formed by arranging the hair, grass,or other ber, B,about a central or guiding thread, C, and parallel therewith, in 'such away that the thinner endsot' each successivecollection ot' fibers shalloverlap the thicker ends of the preceding collection, the

The hair whoie heilig then wound spirally with the wrapping or windingthread l), as represented in Fig'. 2. Said woot' is designed in themanner and upon .the machine described in Letters Patent No. '48.796,granted to James Downie, July 18, i865, for a machine for preparingwoot' for the manufacture of hair and grass cloth. The prepared woot" Ais then wound upon hohbins an'd inserted in the warp with a shuttle, asin ordinary weaving.

The quality ofthe materials which form the woot' A varies with thequality ot' the cloth to be manutactured.l For some kinds otl cloth silkis used for both the guiding or central thread, C, and thebindiug orwrapping thread D; but in all cases the woot' is prepare/d in the sameway. The tasteot the manuthct'urer and the purposes for whichthe clothis to he used may he consulted in the weaving.

For some purposes itmay be best to make the cloth as represented in Fig.l-that is to say, first weave a. narrow `strip ot' plain cloth withordinary woot', then insert t'our, five, or six thrgads ot' preparedwoot, then a strip ot plain cloth, and so on continuously.. QAgain, itmay he advisable to weave the cloth as represented in Fig.' 3-that is tosay, one or two threads of ordimirywoot', then one ot prepared woot',then one or two of ordinary woot', and

so on; or it may bev woven entirely with p repared woot', no ordinarywoot' being used,`all these constructions heilig immaterial s0 long asit is ahair or grass cloth with selvages and with a prepared woot'formed by overlappingl the fibers upon each other along oraround Y acentral or guiding` thread, and wound, bound,

or wrapped with a winding-or rappingthread, as herein described.

A cloth formed with -selvages and woven with a hair or grass woot' madeby overlapping the ends ot' the fibers ot' hair or grass upon each otheralong or around and parallel with a central or guiding thread,landwound, hound, or wrapped with awnding, hiuding,

or wrapping thread, substahtiall y as described, and to the ctl'ect setforth.

.JAMES Downru.

Witnesses:

Trios. l. How, JAMESJT. GRAIILQM.

